Children's Home run by Nurture Care Group Ltd in Wolverhampton

Inspection report children’s home: 2642297 1 Registered provider: Nurture Care Group Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and operated by a small private company. It provides care for up to three children, aged from five to 17 years old, who experience social, emotional or behavioural difficulties and associated complex needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager is appropriately qualified and registered with Ofsted in September 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

Three children currently live in the home. All children were present throughout the inspection and spoke with the inspectors.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children’s home: 2642297 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/06/2023 Full Good 22/06/2022 Full Good 18/01/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 2642297 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is warm and welcoming and has a family atmosphere. Staff work hard to create an atmosphere that is full of warmth and love. The children’s bedrooms and the living areas resonate with a sense of individuality, achievement and special interests. Artwork, photographs, certificates and posters clearly reflect the individual hobbies, interests and achievements of each child. The décor, maintenance and organisation of the home suggest that those who live there are important, valued and respected .

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive high-quality care that makes them feel valued and secure. The staff demonstrate unwavering commitment to them. Children living in this home have made significant and meaningful progress from their starting points. Relationships between staff and children are warm, affectionate and loving. Staff are continually curious about, and reflect on, how they can help children grow in all areas of their development. This helps children to build trust and to feel safer and relaxed in their surroundings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is a positive ethos about the importance of education. As a result, children do well in education and have good attendance. The home advocates for children’s education and works closely with educational establishments to ensure the best possible outcomes are achieved academically for children. This support helps children to grow in confidence and self-esteem. It also provides them with a better opportunity to reach their full potential and increase their life chances.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are positive about living here and say that the best thing about living here is the staff who care for them and the experiences and opportunities they have. One child described the staff as amazing and said that she can ask anything of staff ‘one million per cent’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children have positive experiences and try new things. This provides children with the opportunity to gain new experiences and have fun. Staff identify and nurture children’s interests. For example, children attend piano lessons, figure skating lessons and police cadets. Additionally, they balance the number of free activities children go to with paid activities. This helps children to achieve this balance in the future when they are budgeting for themselves.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home place great emphasis on children making memories and having shared experiences that they can cherish and keep forever. This is evident in the home through a vast range of pictures and memory books. The staff have been hugely creative in providing a wide range of activities, holidays and projects. For example, all children have recently been on holiday to Turkey and every week children pick somewhere in the UK to explore, children have so far visited Devon, Somerset and Liverpool to name a few. Staff and children have also raised money for a breast cancer charity holding a cake sale in the local village. This has given children the opportunity to create links in the community and to develop their social skills and empathy towards others. Inspection report children’s home: 2642297 4

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff and children have positive and caring relationships with each other. Managers and staff listen to children’s views. Children know how to make a complaint, and any complaints are taken seriously. As a result, children feel listened to and valued.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff are clear about their responsibilities to protect children. They understand the child protection policy and know how to report a safeguarding concern. Liaison with safeguarding agencies is effective. Information is shared swiftly with them to avoid delay and ensure that children are protected from harm. The manager takes guidance from these professionals, and they work together to ensure that children are safe.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Due to the positive relationships enjoyed between the children and staff, the use of physical intervention has not occurred. Children’s risk assessments and behaviour support plans are detailed and clear. These plans provide the staff with the information and guidance they need to understand and support the specific vulnerabilities and risks for each child. This awareness is embedded in the staff’s day-to-day work, which effectively reduces and minimises the risks for children. Staff are directed in how to manage and mitigate the risks identified for each child. Staff are skilled in diversion and de- escalation using the home’s therapeutic approach, which demonstrates that the strategies identified are being used and are effective.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

In most situations, the staff team’s approach to supporting children who self-harm is highly nurturing. Staff are comfortable talking to the children and gently challenge them to consider the effect of their risk-taking behaviour. Staff talk openly with children and listen to them effectively about their views on self- harm. Staff help them to work through their emotions and to talk more openly about their worries. Staff and managers work in partnership to support children with their emotional health. Safety plans and risk assessments are kept up to date. In-house therapists and children have supported staff in writing these.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

When children go missing from care, staff follow the joint protocol effectively. Searches conducted by staff and persistent attempts to make contact show children they are cared about. Proactive collaboration with parents, local authorities and police supports children to return home safely. Missing-from-care incident records are clear. However there has been a lack of managerial oversight on occasions in which details of the outcome of the concern as well as further actions staff need to be aware of have not been recorded.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

There has been a missed opportunity for staff to complete effective direct work with children about their behaviour, risks and topics of concern in a small number of safeguarding incidents. For example, staff have lacked professional curiosity and empathy when children have harmed themselves. This does not support children to make safer choices and reduce risks in all areas of their lives. Inspection report children’s home: 2642297 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is enthusiastic, child focused, and children are at the centre of everything she does. She sets out clear standards of care. Her committed and determined approach continues to drive improvements in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has high expectations and aspirations for children. The staff share the manager’s vision, which is demonstrated through the culture and ethos of the home. This ensures that children receive good-quality care from a dedicated and ambitious team of staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has established strong connections with partner agencies. Professionals are unanimously positive about the communication with the staff team and about the care provided for children. One social worker said, ‘The home really understands children’s individual needs and they help with the children’s confidence in doing things independently. They expose the children to positive experiences and make good decisions, which will help them for the future. They support the children to understand to do things for themselves as this is an important skill to have as they move out of care.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The majority of the staff hold the required qualification in residential childcare. A small number of staff are currently working to achieve this, and there are plans to ensure that they complete this within the required timescales. Staff are provided with a wide range of training that informs their practice and meets children’s individual and diverse needs. Team meetings and team around the child meetings take place monthly and are used as a place for reflection and learning. Important issues are tracked and discussed, and children are at the centre of all staff practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff speak positively about working at the home. The manager is well regarded and is nurturing towards the team. This means that staff work in an environment where they feel well supported. The leadership and the quality of care create an environment where staff are proud to work and which children are proud to live.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been some gaps in the managers oversight of the home. Some records when children have gone missing from the home or incidents when children have harmed themselves, do not include a record of management oversight, outcomes and follow up actions. When they do, the manager has reflected on incidents to make improvements to the care provided. The lack of oversight of other incidents means that these opportunities for learning are not always taken up.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

In addition, supervision quality and content need further improvement to demonstrate child practice-related discussions including safeguarding, and to reflect staff development action plans that reflect development opportunities that staff have taken up. The manager has sought to improve her supervision skills by attending additional supervision training. Furthermore, some children’s internal care plans are not specific to each child, the manager has noted this shortfall and has taken necessary steps to address this. Inspection report children’s home: 2642297 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— help each child to understand how to keep safe. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that children are supported to understand how to keep safe following any safeguarding incidents. 6 October 2024

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that they have effective oversight of incidents with outcomes and actions included, and ensure that children’s plans are accurate and are specific to the child. Additionally, supervision records need to be practise related and records should reflect the staff development opportunities and plans in place. 6 October 2024 Inspection report children’s home: 2642297 7

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, using the social care common inspection framework. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. Inspection report children’s home: 2642297 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Nurture Care Group Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite 34 Hilton Hall, Hilton Lane, Essington, Wolverhampton WV11 2BQ

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Inspectors

Marianne Grandfield, Social Care Inspector Siân Heffey, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2642297 9 achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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